Goodwill Hunting: Logitech diNovo Mini

We’ve all heard the phrase: One man’s trash is another man’s treasure. Some generally equate that to it being literal trash or something of very little value. To me, that’s not the case. I take that saying with a different meaning. Simply put: they are abandoning potential.

While it’s true that people do discard real junk as they cull their belongings (or grandma downsizes her tchotchke collection) there are times people simply toss things they have forgotten about or forgotten their worth. And it’s not just monetary value, as many of these things thought to be worthless are still new, barely used or never utilized to their full potential.

I tend to frequent second-hand shops like Goodwill at least once a week. They are the source for which I find all of these hidden gems, things of forgotten worth, and it’s rare that I walk out of there without buying something. The things I’m usually seeking out are most any form of technology or electronics, and I usually strike gold.

At times when I happen upon these finds, I ask myself: “Why would anything get rid of this, don’t they know what they had?”

On one of my recent visits, I came across something fairly interesting, a unique little clamshell device. Upon further inspection I found out it was a wireless keyboard, a Logitech diNovo mini Bluetooth media controller to be exact. I had done some research on my smartphone and found out that even though it was released in 2008, it’s still selling for a pretty good price: $50.00 for used and $70.00 for new. I paid $7.99.

It is a small palm-sized keyboard with a built-in multi-function trackpad. I found it to work great with my computer as I use it to browse the web, type up blogs or reply to emails, and navigate through video streaming services. The coolest part about it, though, is that I can sync it up with my smart phone and turn it into pocket computer or use it as a gaming controller.

One surprise is it was that it was backlit, with orange keys for regular typing interactions and, with a flip of the switch, green for its media remote mode function. It does not take advantage of Logitech’s unifying receiver, but rather Bluetooth, and it does have a rechargeable Lithium ion battery and storage for a Bluetooth receiver.

Logitech® diNovo Mini™. Photo by Jason Mueller/Jetspace.

Logitech® diNovo Mini™. Photo by Jason Mueller/Jetspace.

I had to have it, and now that I’ve been using it for about a month, I am glad I bought it. It works beautifully. I’ve even customized it a little. Since Bluetooth technology has advanced quite a bit since its release, I found no use for carrying around its Bluetooth dongle inside. So I removed it and replaced with a flash drive the same size to store my movies. While I’m all down for Netflix and chill, I still download some movies, so I also support dongle and spoon.

Logitech® diNovo Mini™. Photo by Jason Mueller/Jetspace.

Logitech® diNovo Mini™. Photo by Jason Mueller/Jetspace.

My second little mod was affixing small Velcro anchor points on the inside of the clamshell lid to adhere to a snap-on cover for my smartphone. This makes it into a more cohesive handheld device. It works great for playing games that display in landscape mode, and responds better with external peripherals, without me yelling at my screen “I tapped it! I swear!”

Every time I visit Goodwill I find something awesome, and with that many things to share. Thoughts have crossed my mind about selling these great finds for a great return on investment, but I’m a bit selfish and want to keep it for myself. So no matter if you are looking for goodies for yourself or looking to make a profit by reselling, it always pays to go Goodwill hunting.